Dangerous Maths 3: Shark Attack

July 31, 2015

Aussie Pro surfer, Mick Fanning, grabbed world attention when he was attacked by a shark in the Fanning J-Bay Open, South Africa on Sunday 19 July, 2015. Fanning was knocked off his board and forced to fight for his life.He survived.News.com

One shark expert suggested the shark was a young great white shark under 3.5 metres.

Would you survive a shark attack?

Let’s do the maths.

How fast can a shark swim?

According to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History:The torpedo shape of the great white is built for speed: up to 35 miles per hour (50 kilometers per hour). And then there are the teeth — 300 total in up to seven rows.

How fast can you swim?

According to Junior Olympic Games Qualifying Times 2015

For 13-14 yo 100m freestyle:

t girl = 1.15 or 75sec

t boy =1.10. Or 70 sec

Lets assure you are an average swimmer but highly motivated on seeing a shark:

Also according to the Smithsonian: Sharks can detect both the direction and amount of movement made by prey, even from as far as 820 feet (250 meters) away.

But there is hope as, according to the National Geographic Channel, Most shark attacks occur less than 100 feet or 30.5 m from the shore mainly around popular beaches in North America (especially Florida and Hawaii), Australia, and South Africa.

Again we will assume that the swimmer is 30m offshore when he sees the shark fin 250m away. But this time we will have the world’s fastest swimmer. This time we are talking Dav vs Shark!!!!!!!!!